[IC] Into the Black

[Kirah]

Victoria sat leaned back in an old chair in the shade cast by the good ship Herald. Most of her crew was about doing their own thing, right now she was trying to see if any passengers were wanting a ride off of New Melbourne, a watery fishing planet. She had quite of few characters come through her boat, and the one walking up to her wasn't much different. He wore a suit, dark colors, nicely tailored. Behind him a younger man dragged a anti-grav cart with a heavy crate on it. Don't ask too many questions. Victoria reminded herself. "Howdy miss. You taking passengers?" The man in the suit asked. "And cargo." Victoria nodded at the crate. "Excellent. I'm taking this to Bellerophon." Now Victoria definitely didn't want to ask any questions. If she didn't know what was in the cargo it wasn't illegal. The pair talked prices for a moment, she jacked it up more than necessary, but even without asking she knew there was risk. The man, one Todd Wright and his manservant, loaded the crate on board. Victoria sat back down, this time a bit straighter. Her people knew how to keep their traps shut, she wasn't worried about them, too much. ((Feel free to be where you want, already on the ship or about to be hired. I want the ship off New Melbourne fairly quick though.))

[Subject Zero]

Kai drummed his fingers, his other hand cradling his chin, as he waited impatiently for the nav computer to reboot. He had been getting ghost signals from it all day and spent the last half hour trying to repair the gorram thing. The captain would throttle him if he didn't have it back online before it was time to leave. There was little he could do now but he was confident this would fix it...Fairly confident anyway. His fingers stopped drumming as he glanced over at the communication array. Maybe he should use this time to send a message home. He hadn't spoken to his parents in a long time. He wasn't even sure they would want to talk to him. His mother especially. They hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms the last time they spoke. Ever since the war, when Kai abandoned his post and went awol, his mother had basically disowned him. The old man was less obvious but Kai knew he was disappointed too. It had been years and they had only spoken a few times since then. As he slowly reached for the comms array though, the sound of the nav computer finally coming back online snapped him out of his thoughts of home and back to the moment. He would leave the message for later. He had work to do anyway. Everything seemed to be working fine now and he breathed a short sigh of relief as he sat back in his chair.

[McHaggis]

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[Oni_]

Sera was huddled on one of the walkways of the ship, her leather bound book lay open beside her and her veil was at her side, allowing her hair to hang free from its restraint. She watched with interest as the ships doctor loaded on a crate of his own, it seemed like a strenuous job. It was all so surreal to Sera, sure she lived on the outer planets all her life but she had never travelled around for anything other than her religious duties, being on this boat was like being in an entirely different world. The man who wanted to buy passage or instance was too well dressed for your common planet hopper. He seemed fresh from the core as fe as Sera was concerned. A year out here at most from the get up, what did he need a shipping so badly that he'd use this sort of boat for it? The captain and doctor acted if this was normal enough so Sera didn't auras action it, electing instead to return to her scriptures. They were typical in most places, the divines were omnipotent and the like, creating human kind and the entirety of the 'verse. It was pretty clear on most of the sin front as well, no stealing, no outright murder (although as far as Sera could figure out justified self defence was a perfectly fine), rape and adultery were big no-no's too. The scripture weren't incredibly lengthy but they were difficult to memorise, even for a high priestess like herself. She pretended to skim through them, but in reality it was a facade to observe the ships crew closer.

[Mysterio]

There were pieces of assault rifle scattered on the table in front of him, along with various tubes of oil, brushes and parts. McGarrety had already broken down and rebuilt the rifle twice this morning but he was bored and after his service with the Alliance this was the best way he knew to relax. Anyway he hated weapon jams, they always happened at the worst time possible usually when he right in the biggest gorram fire fight of his life. He had his pistol next to him which he was planning on working on next. With a bit of luck it would take him most of the morning. New Melbourne was just about the dullest place he had ever visited. Just fish, fish and more fish. He had visited a local tavern last night to find himself confronted with fishermen who were even duller than the planet. Who cared about the size of the catch or what bait who was using with success. Even the barmaid wasn't responding to his usual charms. "Getting old" he thought to himself "Starting to lose my touch". He only had one drink then had headed back. He had to stop himself from thinking about the past to much, to many bad memories. He was proud of his service, proud to be a member of the Alliance but that pride only went so far. He wasn't proud of the things he had done, nor in the end of the men and women he had served under. To many bad decisions, to many life's lost on both sides on trivial planets which made no real difference to the end result. It had been obvious to him and all the others he had served with that the rebellion was doomed. Nor could he understand what had led the to rebel in the first place. The Alliance had always offered him a roof over his head, food in his mouth and money is his pocket. In the end it was one of those bad decisions which led him to retire from the service. Even he had questioned it but no avail. The orders were given. And he just couldn't do it..... McGarrety looked down to see he had rebuilt the rifle without even realising it. 20 years of service and that was one skill that would always remain with him. "One more time" he thought as he started dismantling it again.

[Mysterio]

McGarrety had been to see Theobald Rogers the local Alliance representative who he had been working for over the last 4 weeks. He had explained that he was moving on and Rogers hadn't been overly happy. He'd been making some threats backed up by McGarrety's muscle and was a little concerned about what might happen if that muscle wasn't on the scene anymore. He had even suggested that McGarrety might want to reconsider or bad things may happen to him. McGarrety had shown Rogers what would happen if bad things occurred and Rogers had suddenly decided he had business on the other side of the planet. "I need to get off this stinking rock" McGarrety had mumbled as he packed up his scant belongings and checked out of his room. "Back to the 'port then and lets see if these guns can find me some work" he thought as he pushed his way through the crowds in the market. As it happened there was only one ship in port and to say it was battered would be understating it. "Battered just like me I guess" McGarrety considered as he headed towards the open hatch.

[Kirah]

Victoria shrugged at Shen. "His credit is good." She told him, "Wants to go to Bellerophon." Victoria gave Shen a slight grimace smile, too much a core world for Victoria. Victoria had been born and raised on a ship, being elsewhere was hard for her, if she spent too much time planet-side she would get sick. "Help me make sure the crew doesn't..." She waved her hand indicating any of the possibilities a crew full of Independent minded people might do. Victoria glanced past Shen and saw someone looking at her ship. Her heart dropped and her stomach twisted. "Lien Mohn Hwen Dan." Victoria said under her breath just loud enough Shen would hear her. "Get on the boat." She added, then turned to the man looking her ship over. "Good morn'." She smiled at him, now standing. God I hope he don't remember me, and sure as hell don't want on my boat.

[McHaggis]

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[Mysterio]

McGarrety hadn't been paying attention as he walked up, he had been taking in the condition of the ship so the salutation had taken him somewhat by surprise. "Mornin'" he responded, his eyes adjusting to the sudden change in light from the ship looking above him. "I'm looking for passage off this planet and I don't really care where to. Is the Captain of this boat around?".

[Kirah]

"That'd be me." Victoria responded, her voice a bit tight. "We've got a stop off at Bellerophon next." The restrictions to land on Bellerophon where heavy, and staying on the planet without business or family there was basically impossible. Victoria did know there was a small crew of pirates on the planet, how they had gotten there or continued operations on the damn planet was beyond her. There was too much water and too much sand. She hated both. What Victoria hoped best for was that he wouldn't want to go to Bellerophon and wasn't willing to wait for whatever planet they ended up on after that. Victoria wasn't even sure where the wind would take her after Bellerophon. New Melbourne hadn't been a planned stop, but Kai had insisted they land. She'd have to give him a swift kick if things went south from here.

[Mysterio]

"Bellaphron" McGarrety frantically scanned his memory but couldn't recall if he had served there or even layed off there. "One planet is as good as another and there's always work for someone like me" he thought. "Bellaphron is exactly where I was heading next" he stated "I'm McGarrety" he told her,"Creds transfer acceptable I'm guessin?"

[Kirah]

Definitely him, she cursed to herself. Of course it was. "I'm Caine." He didn't seem to remember her, that was a blessing, maybe she could repay her stupid debt to him and forget the whole thing without him even realizing it. That'd be a miracle. She hated the idea of owing him, especially for the reason. If he told any of the crew she'd never hear the end of it. "Ya sure? Bellaphron isn't exactly known for takin' on random work hands." Maybe this would be enough, she held her breath. "I suppose I can take ya where I'm goin' after that if they won't take ya there. Credits are fine."

[McHaggis]

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[Fillet]

His boots kicked up splashes of fishy water puddled on the road in his haste to get to the docking bay for airships; the soaked ankles of his tan khakis were a dark brown. Craig grabbed onto the satchel slung across his shoulder with one hand, with the other holding a common assault rifle camouflaged in the notorious blue of the Kappa gang. Commoners in the marketplace gave way to him with fearful glances. Craig scanned the crowd for any gang member who might recognise he wasn’t one of their own, or the Muldje, who harboured an intense rivalry against the Kappa - a bitterness that would have been assuaged by the satchel of precious gems he now carried. He broke through the stench of the sea in the rowdy marketplace and into the open field where airships waited. The docking bay was mostly empty of exportation vessels on the weekend; he needed a small, fast ship to pilot off of the planet and there was just one - a runner and its crew that was replenishing supplies, looking ready to go. The Captain - a young and pretty, hardened woman - was dealing with a potential passenger. “Gorram it,” Craig muttered when he walked close enough to have a better look at the man: McGarrety, a grounded, fellow Alliance soldier who had had a few beers with him on random occasions when his own patrol ship had landed to resupply. He could only hope the drunken nights had washed McGarrety clean of any memory of him. Craig waited at a polite distance for the Captain; and when she was ready to meet him, he bowed, as the local etiquette demanded of a Kappa member, and said, “Konnichiwa, I am Ben Williamson, Ma’am. I’m looking to go to Persephone.”

[Mysterio]

"Ok Captain, well my skill set is pretty much always in demand but if your right then I have the credits for another flight. Unless you've got any objections I will get my gear on board. Will someone show me where I'm bunking?" McGarretty heard a voice behind him and turned. He saw a figure that he vaguely recalled from one to many nights in a local tavern. It was only a scant image in his mind so he shrugged his shoulders. He picked his duffel up from the floor, slung it over his shoulder and started heading towards the ship. He guessed Caine would shout if she needed anything else from him.

[Kirah]

"All right." She nodded to McGarretty then yelled for Shen. "Do ya mind showin' him a passenger bunk?" Once McGarretty was taken care of she turned to the new comer. She raised her eyebrow slightly at the Japanese greeting. That wasn't a language she used all that often. "We're headed that way." Maybe I can convince McGarretty to get off there too. Victoria blindly hoped. Victoria talked numbers with him for a minute, then said. "Welcome aboard Williamson. I'll show you to your bunk." The ship was full. The cargo that she was taking to Salisbury, that had already been on ship before the unscheduled stop, had taken up plenty of space. Now they were heading to Bellerphone with a small crate and four new passengers. Victoria took a deep breath. This would be an uncomfortable trip that was for sure. Two stops before the suits were off. One for Williamson. Then Salisbury, then Bellerphone. The trip to Bellerphone alone would be three weeks. At the passenger quarters she made sure that Williamson, the suits and McGarretty were comfortable. Then she headed up to the cockpit to check on diagnostics. "Please tell me we're good to go." She asked Kai.

[McHaggis]

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[Mysterio]

McGarretty slung his duffel and looked around his new home for the next few weeks. Whilst it was by no means palatial it certainly was a massive step up in comfort from the troop ships he was most used to. He thanked the crew member who had shown him his berth. At least here he had a bunk and a mattress of sorts. As he had headed to his quarters he dismissed his initial thoughts about the state of the ship. It might have looked a little rough and ready on first sight but even with his landlubber eyes he could see that the important bits were well maintained. He didn't doubt there would be some unusual bumps and groans but as long as say the engine didn't shear from its mountings he though he would get to Bellerphone ok. Pre-flight was the worst time for him, once they were away into the black he would be fine but he always got a bit nervous till then. He always recalled that emergency evac during the battle of Du Khang when the remains of his unit were pulling out and the gorram Browncoats were firing rockets at the transport ship as it pulled out of orbit. He did however fondly remember two weeks later stomping all over their emplacement when they came back in retaliation. McGarretty pulled his harp from his back pocket and started to play, that at least would help to distract him and he didn't think pulling out his weapons for another strip down would go down well with the crew or other passengers.

[Subject Zero]

Finished with his current duties on the bridge, Kai decided to check on the others. His crew was the closest thing he had to a family these days. And that was just immensely depressing. Nevertheless, he had grown to like at least some of them. He swung around in his chair and strolled out towards the cargo bay where he came across Sera and Shen looking down into the bay where a few passengers were gathering. His eyes lingered on Sera for a brief moment. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about this woman. He wasn't big on religion. Mostly because most religions had a tendency to get involved in peoples lives. Kai wasn't overly fond of anyone telling him what to do. His superiors in the military had learned that to their great annoyance. Sera seemed nice enough though, albeit a little bèiyīn...He'd keep an eye on her anyway. “Have you been out to get some fresh air before we take off? Might sicken yourself, surrounded by just the Black all the time.” he heard Shen ask Sera. "He's right you know" added Kai "I'd have taken some time out there myself if this place didn't smell so gorram bad". His attention quickly shifted when the captain approached and asked if they were good to go. "Wǒmen zhǔnbèi hǎole" he replied, informing her the ship was ready "Where we headed?"

[Kirah]

"Excellent." Victoria nodded to Kai. "I'd like to be out of this place in thirty. First stop Persephone." Victoria looked over the cargo, checking straps. When she got to the new crate she checked it nervously. Victoria doesn't like not knowing what's on her ship, but sometimes it's safer to just not ask questions. Especially with the particular planet in question. Just as she finished checking the straps the suit came over. "Everything okay Captain?" "Yeah, I was just makin' sure it wouldn't slide none. We're gonna take off in a few. Wouldn't want damage done to whatever it is." The unasked question hung in the air for a moment. Finally the suit spoke again. "No, no we wouldn't want that." He nodded and headed back to his room. "Ugh." Victoria said under her breath and joined Kai in the cockpit.